Smartphones have Reached a Peak! More about The Software Now!

in #steemit6 years ago

Guy with Phone.jpg

I been making most of my money reviewing phones the last 5 years. It’s been a very fun journey to do all that on YouTube. Making phone comparisons. But the last couple of years I have started to get really bored of it. Because I started to see the same things over and over again. The hardware innovation in design started to grow stagnant. Most phones had the same copycat design. And the new features in software wasn’t really that innovative. For example the last fun iOS version that had an interesting redesign was iOS 7 back in 2013! Then I realized what it was… We had started to reach a peak!

Mount Everest Peak.jpg

Smartphones 2018 have now started to reach a peak where there really is not any super need to invest in an expensive new smartphone. But even with that Samsung and Apple has been investing a lot of money and many years into building up their brands so they now can come out with super expensive phones like iPhone X and Galaxy Note 8 with prices around the 1000 euro range.

But for people that look deeper into the smartphone market you know that Chinese competition is on the rise and that you now can get an awesome Android smartphone for around $150 price range. Especially if you look at online retailers like Banggood and GearBest. Which is very fascinating.

Xiaomi Redmi 5 Affordable low cost phone

Redmi 5 Gold Edition.jpeg

Many phones at this low range even comes with the ability to unlock the phone using face unlock, they also feature quad-core processors, fingerprint sensor and dual rear camera. So what is the major feature you get with the expensive phones usually? Just glass back that feels more premium but that also breaks more easily. There is not really any super need to buy a so called premium phone these days.

In the future it will be more about the software than the hardware. Since the cost of hardware is coming down people can use phones that are years old! That will make so the big phone companies will focus more on creating a more awesome software experience. Here I think Apple might not have that of an interesting advantage since they are running on a closed OS. While Android is more open and gives you more freedom. Software these days is moving towards more open source. Because companies have realized they can grow faster with the help of a community.

For Free.jpg

Eventually I think we will step into a world where phones will just be given out for free. Because many new companies can’t sell you stuff if you don’t own a device. We are moving towards a future world that will be more about renting and sharing instead of owning stuff. We have seen this with the Taxi industry with Uber and the Travel industry with Airbnb.

So what will free phones be good for? Well it will make it so people have more money over and doesn’t have to spend a lot every 2 years on an overpriced gadget. This will also lower the cost of experiences. Since many phones can now be used to experience Virtual Reality by getting cheap addons.

Guy writing Software.jpg

In the end we will all win from phones reaching a peak. That we can now start to focus more on creating amazing software that can help us to build better online tribes. What we are trying to do with the Internet is to build trust and relationships. Something that we did back in the days in the real world when we were living in Tribes.

We are really empowering people massively with technology because it opens up so many opportunities that you never had before. It’s truly a global revolution. Especially now with the Blockchain how it makes so you can be your own Swiss private Bank. There is no longer a need for anyone else to have control over your value. You can be the main authority. This of course also means that with great power comes great responsibility. Things may not go super smooth there will be many ups and downs on this journey towards more freedom. It’s a massive paradigm shift for many humans.

The Blockchain.jpg

Since the Blockchain is currently giving us so much value it have almost made it pointless currently to even invest in making your own website. Since doing anything outside the Blockchain will be very ancient and outdated in the future. Of course it will be a very scary shift also for many people how we are now moving towards a non physical world. It’s scary when we cannot hold onto something with our hands. How can we know it’s real? But we just have to get used to evolution and trust that mother nature has a plan with all of this progress and change that we are seeing.

Elon Musk have talked about that abundance is coming and that the bigger question will be what purpose people will have in life when they can get everything super easy. What will they spend time doing? Will they be sad when they are being rewarded with more freedom? Because ironically many humans today are actually suffering from their freedom.

(Photos in this blog post comes from my Business Shutterstock account)

Sort:  

I have to personally disagree with you on this one. I think I would go with a used S7 over the Xiomi Redmi 5. You might pay a little bit more but you get about double the screen resolution.
The Xiomi does have a bigger screen though and it is a good phone and it is good you mentioned it as a nice new phone but personally I'd go with a used and probably refurbished.
Overall though your main point is valid. I think a lot of the new high end models are a waste of money.

Surely a better display can be nice. But I really can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p display.. So it's a luxury to have higher but above 1080p that is when it really starts to get ridiculous. And dual rear camera... Who has ever needed a dual rear camera haha. A phone for max 600 euro I can see a reason to buy. But anything above that is when it really becomes a waste of money.

I think a used S7 should be about the same price. This comparison seemed strange. Seems like the Xiomi should beat the S7 on games with its low resolution.


Panoramic camera? lol

I felt the same way when I transitioned from my nexus 5 to my nexus 6. Unfortunately in the short term this transition to a "software as a service" model is going to drop off many smaller players.

We already see this with HTC as their revenue drops year after year because what made them a powerhouse in the industry is being abandoned for either cookie-cutter implementations or clunky original solutions that would've faired better with a little more development time.

A positive that I see out of this is that software in general will improve because the spotlight is on it instead of the phone. This may lead to multi-year partnerships and becoming a go-to solution for OEMs and individuals alike so it would be beneficial to be more open and prone to polishing their offerings.

Thanks for a great comment, I agree with much stuff you say.

Yes we will see many of the old players starting to fall off. Especially the ones who doesn't have the quickness to adapt. Both Samsung and Apple has plenty of liquid money to last a very long time in the industry. The profits by selling devices will probably shrink and they will try to create more revenue with better software experiences to up-sell people stuff!

The companies that will last is the ones who will focus more on creating a better customer experience. Something that makes people feel more special. Customer loyality is changing a lot in these Internet times. People expect so much more from a company. That they actually care about you as a person.

I wonder if a cel phone company may eventually not only give out phones for free, but pay out crypto as you use it.

That’s just how “abundant” I think technology will become in the coming years.

I agree with you!

Take for example the new search service you can use called Presearch where you can earn 8 free PRE tokens per day. That is currently an easy 60 dollars extra per month. But who has time to collect and do all these things? So much opportunity will come. We have at least 10 other similar services at the same time right now you can start to implement in your life. And that is just the top of the iceberg. Good things are coming!

Yes, I think there are going to be so many ways to make crypto in the coming years without actually paying for it, that it will be hard to keep track!

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.35
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70455.47
ETH 3561.82
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.71